


you shot me (straight through the heart)

by sodappend



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2018-07-25 19:17:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7544719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sodappend/pseuds/sodappend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yahaba just really needs caffeine. And maybe Kyoutani's number.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you shot me (straight through the heart)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hanwritesstuff (hannahkannao)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannahkannao/gifts).



It was one particularly desperate morning that Shigeru found himself at the campus café. It wasn’t an establishment he frequented; between classes, nightly patrols around town, and practically living in the library to get all of his work done, the only source of caffeine he bothered with were cans of coffee and energy drinks from the convenience store near his dorm. He always assumed the only place on campus that (supposedly) made decent coffee would always be full anyway, so he was surprised, as he walked in during the hour between his first and second classes, that it was empty. In fact, no one was manning the counter at all, though Shigeru could hear movement from what must have been the back room.

“Excuse me?” he called out, eyes scanning the menu, hand-written in chalk on a board that hung above the counter. There was a crash from somewhere inside followed by a low, muttered curse that Shigeru couldn’t help but smile at, despite his exhaustion. Free of students, the cafe with its large windows, warm lighting and soft jazz playing in the background was probably the most peaceful place he’d ever seen on campus. He found himself feeling _tranquil_ , despite having had a grand total of forty minutes of sleep.

“Could you get that, Kyoutani?” A different voice called out from inside, and a boy - Kyoutani, Shigeru supposed - walked out to the counter. He looked stern, for lack of a better word ( _resting bitch face_ , said a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Oikawa’s,) but Shigeru couldn’t find it in himself to be intimidated when he had what looked like flour all over his front.

“Sorry about that,” Shigeru said pleasantly, gesturing at the mess. Kyoutani blinked at him for a moment, looking bewildered as if he’d just realised Shigeru was there at all. He lifted one shoulder up in a shrug, and Shigeru had to bite the inside of his cheek because something about Kyoutani made him want to ruffle his hair.

“Can I help you?” Kyoutani asked. Shigeru pressed his lips together for a moment to make sure he wasn’t going to start grinning like an idiot.

“A large Americano and a blueberry muffin to stay, please,” he said.

“Five dollars,” Kyoutani said flatly. Shigeru couldn’t quite tell if he was mad or he was just this terse by default, but he couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed when the smell of brewing coffee started filling the room. He settled in the plush armchair just in front of the pastry display, pulling out his notes for his next lecture. Kyoutani brought him his coffee and his muffin a couple of minutes later, placing them gently on the table.

“Thanks,” Shigeru said with a small smile. Kyoutani blinked at him again, with the same bewildered expression that he had at the counter, and Shigeru wondered if the bags under his eyes were _that_ bad, because he certainly hadn’t done anything to warrant that look this time.

He shrugged it off, working on his muffin (which was excellent, freshly baked and not too sweet) and drinking his coffee (which was even better, strong and without a hint of burnt bitterness) until five minutes before his class was due to start and people started to trickle in.

 

Shigeru went to bed that night expecting, at the very least, to get a full eight hours of sleep, considering it was a Friday and he was supposedly off duty for the weekend. Of course, with his job things never worked out that way, and all he could do when his phone rang at four in the morning was groan into the receiver.

“Good morning, Artemis-chan!” Oikawa said, Shigeru whimpering at how he was practically yelling, “I’m so sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but we have a situation we could really use your help-” there was a yelp somewhere in the background, and the unmistakable sound of Iwaizumi crashing into something, “-with right now! We’re a street away from the park, see you soon!”

“Why is this my life,” Shigeru said out loud, allowing himself three seconds to stare blankly at his ceiling before rolling out of bed and suiting up, nearly grabbing an empty quiver by mistake on his hurry out.

The "situation" turned out to be a giant green _tentacle monster_ , of all things, that didn’t seem to want to die by normal means. Iwaizumi was managing to control it, throwing large boulders - and himself - at it to keep it occupied, but it wasn’t doing much in the way of actually defeating it.

“Artemis!” Someone called from behind him, and he turned just in time to dodge as Kindaichi turned himself into metal and jumped straight onto the creature, only to bounce right off and crack the cement as he landed.

“Hey, hey!” Oikawa called out, jumping up on the roof beside Shigeru, “The Association’s going to cut that from our salary; try not to destroy the city!”

Kindaichi lifted his hand in acknowledgement before charging forward, letting his fingers sharpen into points before latching back onto the creature. Shigeru wrinkled his nose at the clear goo that oozed out of the puncture holes.

“Everything we cut off just grew back. We’ve got to figure out its weakness or we’ll be here all morning,” Oikawa said. “Where the heck is Oracle when you need him?”

“Asleep!” Kindaichi called out mid-jump from below, “He has an exam tomorrow and refused to get up.”

Oikawa groaned, and Shigeru saw him turn his visor’s heat detection on with a frown.

“Artemis,” he said, “Can you see those round things near the tentacles?”

“Yeah,” Shigeru said squinting. The creature had small, bright pink spots at the base of each of its eight tentacles, hard to see in the low light.

“Think you can hit it?” Shigeru snorted, hearing the smile in Oikawa’s voice. He pulled an explosive bullet from his quiver, giving himself a moment before releasing it, and watched as it hit its mark perfectly, down to the millimetre. The creature didn’t register the arrow until it blew up with a small pop, taking a tentacle with it.

“Well,” Oikawa said. “That works.”

“I’ll do the rest,” Shigeru said, jumping off of the roof to get closer. He shot off three more, and was marking another when someone jumped over him out of nowhere, right into a tentacle that was about to squish Shigeru flat.

“Pay more attention, you idiot,” the boy growled as he held on to the appendage that was trying to shake him off. Shigeru glared as he loosed an arrow into the base of it, watching the newcomer huff in surprise when the tentacle fell clean off, taking him along with it.

When Shigeru walked over to help him up, he blinked when he noticed the furry, pointed ears that stuck out of his shaggy hair. Shigeru looked over him. He was a little shorter than Shigeru, but he was bulked with muscle, and some parts of him were covered lightly with blond, soft-looking fur. His face looked normal - though the mask covering the upper half of it made it difficult to really tell - except for the set of large, vicious-looking canines that drew Shigeru’s attention whenever he opened his mouth. When the dog-boy turned to attack another tentacle, Shigeru saw a tail poking out of his clothing, which made amusement wash over Shigeru despite being in the middle of a fight.

Shigeru ran around shooting down the rest of the tentacles, then watching as the dog-boy struggled with the last. He pulled out an arrow, then hesitated, before putting it back.

“The pink blob,” he called out. “You have to destroy it!”

The dog-boy glanced at him, before climbing up to the base of the tentacle and plunging a clawed hand right into the base of the tentacle with a squelch, jumping off as it detached then bounding towards Shigeru to stand next to him. With the monster unable to move, Iwaizumi and Kindaichi were free to finish it off. Kindaichi jumped high and let his metal form drop onto the top of the monster’s head, and Iwaizumi threw a boulder straight through its eye, jumping out of the way as it collapsed onto the asphalt with a loud thump.

“Good work, Artemis,” Iwaizumi said, walking up to where Shigeru and the dog-boy were standing. “You too, Mad Dog. It’s been a while.” He said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“You know him?” Shigeru asked, glancing at Mad Dog beside him, who bowed respectfully in greeting. Iwaizumi smiled.

“Mad Dog-chan was our precious underclassman, Isn’t that right, Boulder-chan?” Oikawa said, walking up from behind Iwaizumi with a grin and a hand on his hip. Mad Dog growled as Oikawa approached, and Shigeru couldn’t help but smile at his reaction, because as much as he respected Oikawa, he completely understood the sentiment as well.

“This is Pinhead,” Iwaizumi gestured to Kindaichi and said to Mad Dog, who gave Iwaizumi his full attention. Shigeru smirked as Oikawa pouted at the loss of attention. Kindaichi and Mad Dog nodded to each other in acknowledgement.

“And this is Artemis-chan!” Oikawa chimed in, running around Iwaizumi to place his hands on Shigeru’s shoulders. Mad Dog glared at Oikawa before nodding at Shigeru, and Shigeru returned it with a smile.

The sun was starting to rise by the time Oikawa’s watch beeped to alert them that clean-up and collection was coming.

“You should go before they bug you about joining again,” Iwaizumi said, and Mad Dog nodded at him, his ears twitching.

“You’re not with the Association?” Shigeru asked in surprise, and Mad Dog snorted.

“No,” he said with a huff, “I work alone.” It was the first time he’d spoken since arriving. His voice was deep and rough, almost as if it was a constant growl, and Shigeru wondered if he sounded like that all the time.

Mad Dog inclined his head in a small bow at everyone before he turned and bounded away.

 

Unable to fall back asleep, Shigeru found himself back at the campus café as soon as it opened. It was blissfully empty, as he’d hoped, Kyoutani up on a step-stool writing the day’s menu on the board hanging over the counter with a set of colourful chalk pens.

“Good morning,” Shigeru called out, biting his lip to keep himself from chuckling when Kyoutani startled and had to grab onto the board to rebalance himself.

“That’s the second time me coming in here messed up your work,” he said teasingly, smiling when Kyoutani rolled his eyes in response. “Are you usually this jumpy, or is just during early mornings?”

“You’re too quiet,” Kyoutani muttered, going back to writing, and Shigeru shrugged, unable to deny it. Unlike Oikawa, he wasn’t completely normal, but his abilities weren’t strong enough that he’d classify himself as a super. Being unnaturally stealthy was useful in his line of work, but nothing extraordinary. It definitely wasn’t as useful as being able to turn himself to metal, like Kindaichi, or having freaky psychic powers, like Kunimi.

Someone walked out of the back room, and Shigeru didn’t know if he was imagining it or the room suddenly seemed a lot quieter, despite there being barely any noise in the first place. His presence was akin to filling the room with lavander-scented tealights; Shigeru felt like he could lie down on one of the couches and sleep for three days straight, though that could have also been his lack of sleep.

“Hi!” Can I help you?” he - Suga, as his nameplate read - asked.

“Could I get a large Americano and a blueberry muffin, please?” Shigeru asked. Suga smiled, and Shigeru definitely wasn’t imagining it when the whole room looked like it had a soft filter over it.

“Aura?” Shigeru blurted out, and Suga’s eyes widened in surprise before he chuckled, hand coming up to sheepishly brush his bangs out of his face.

“Yup,” Suga said, starting Shigeru’s coffee but looking back to talk to him. “All I can do is make things a little calmer, unfortunately.” Shigeru raised an eyebrow, because the influence Suga was having definitely wasn’t what he’d classify as _a little_.

“I _do_ have trouble controlling it, sometimes,” Suga said at Shigeru’s look, and Shigeru shook his head.

“I don’t mean to be nosy.” Shigeru said as Suga placed his muffin and a mug of steaming coffee on the counter in front of Shigeru. “I was just surprised. You’re very powerful.”

Kyoutani huffed, and Yahaba looked up to see him shooting Suga a smug look. _I told you so_ , his posture seemed to say. Suga shook his head and rested his hands on his hips, as if conceding something.

“It’s no problem.” Suga said, before holding his hand out. “I’m Sugawara Koushi, by the way. Call me Suga.”

“Yahaba Shigeru,” Shigeru said, taking the offered hand. Suga’s power seemed even more potent with contact, and if Shigeru didn’t recognise what was causing his sudden relaxed state he would have just melted into the floor as he felt it wash over him.

Kyoutani seemed to have finished, stepping down from the step-stool. Shigeru looked up, curious to see what else they were selling for the day, and took in the neat handwriting before noticing the little puppies drawn on the corners of the board.

“What the _hell_ ,” Shigeru said, “You're adorable.” He slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes widening, because it seemed contact with Suga not only calmed him but also eliminated his filter.

He couldn’t find it in himself to mind so much, though, because Kyoutani’s face was bright red, and now it was Suga who was smiling smugly at him.

 

In the few months since Shigeru moved into his college town, the encounter with the tentacle monster was the first time he ever met Mad Dog, so he was surprised when he ran into him on his next patrol just a couple of days later.

He was in an alley, surrounded by a group of men with knives out. He seemed to have everything under control, none of them getting even close to touching him, then Shigeru saw one draw back and pull out a gun from his jacket. Shigeru tensed, immediately reaching behind him for his quiver, and loosed a tranq arrow into the man before he could even aim his gun.

Kyoutani’s head whipped quickly towards him, before his attention was back on the fight. He made quick work of the rest of the men, and as soon as the last man collapsed against a dumpster, unconscious, Shigeru jumped off the roof onto the ground in front of Mad Dog.

“I told you I work alone,” he growled as soon as Shigeru straightened up from his crouch, and Shigeru raised an eyebrow at him.

“I know. But he pulled a gun on you, and I was here.” he said. Mad Dog was still scowling at him, and Shigeru huffed, rolling his eyes. “Look, helping you once isn’t going to make us _partners_. I saw him, I saw that I could do something so I did. I just saved you the trouble of having to deal with him at all.”

“I didn’t need _help_ ,” Mad Dog muttered, and Shigeru threw his arms up in exasperation, turning and getting out of the alley to continue his patrol. His exasperation grew into irritation when he heard Mad Dog follow, a few paces behind him at a steady jog.

“Why are you following me?” he asked, turning and placing a hand on his hip. “What happened to _alone_?”

Mad Dog blinked at him, his head tilting. “I’m on a patrol.”

“So am I.”

Shigeru continued, on an easy run, but Mad Dog stayed on his tail.

“Go on patrol somewhere else!” Shigeru yelled. Mad Dog just tilted his head at him again.

“This is my usual route.”

“Oh my _god_ ,” Shigeru said. He gave up.

 

When Shigeru walked into the campus café, right on opening time, as had become habit, he was greeted by Kyoutani’s glare, mouth turned down in a scowl.

“Who spat in your coffee this morning?” Shigeru asked him as he approached the counter. Kyoutani only glared harder, but Shigeru found it hard to be affected by it as Suga walked out and gave him a smile.

“Shouldn’t he be all calm or something?” Shigeru asked Suga, gesturing vaguely in the air to refer to his ability. Suga laughed, already grabbing a blueberry muffin from the display.

“He’s knows how to ignore it, when he wants to sulk,” Suga said, amused. “He’s too used to me.”

Shigeru’s mouth twitched at the thought of Kyoutani sulking. It was kind of cute, in a weird way, and Shigeru found that it made him want to tease.

“The board is really cute today too, Kyoutani,” he said as he carried his muffin to the nearest armchair.

He pretended not to see the red that bloomed on Kyoutani’s cheeks as he opened a textbook and started to study.

Four hours and two more cups of coffee later, he found Kyoutani sitting across from him with an iced green tea drink. He took in his surroundings; the café was full, only a few empty seats here and there, but the café didn’t _feel_ very busy. Suga’s ability was truly impressive, being able to affect so many people at once.

“My shift's done.” Kyoutani said simply at Shigeru’s questioning gaze. That didn’t really explain why Kyoutani decided to sit here, in front of him, instead of leaving and getting ready for his lecture that Shigeru knew started in an hour, but he didn’t question him.

Though it didn’t feel like Suga’s aura had fluctuated at all in hours, Shigeru was struggling not to grin the entire forty-five minutes Kyoutani sat in front of him.

 

Over the weeks, Shigeru’s irritation turned into confusion.

He went on patrol four or five times a week, and more than half of those times, Mad Dog ended up being right behind him, whether he was running over roofs or on the pavement. They’d separate briefly, sometimes, Mad Dog breaking away more often to take care of something on he noticed, with his heightened senses, but eventually he’d be there again, steps thudding quietly behind Shigeru.

It had become routine enough that Shigeru was taken aback whenever Mad Dog _didn’t_ show up. They didn’t fight together, and they barely spoke at all during patrols, but Shigeru wouldn’t deny that he’d started feeling a sense of camaraderie with Mad Dog. He tried not to, because Mad Dog had made it clear that was the last thing he wanted, but it was hard when he would just show up with no explanation and proceed to follow him around the city for hours.

Shigeru yelped when his foot got caught on a stray pipe as he jumped to the next roof, but before he could do anything, even reach for his hookshot, Mad Dog’s clawed hand shot out and caught him as he jumped to the next roof, himself.

“Be careful,” He growled, as if Shigeru had personally offended him by nearly breaking his neck.

He spend the last hour of the patrol staring at Mad Dog’s back, for a change. He was sure Mad Dog could run much faster than he was - he’d seen evidence of it before, even when they first met during the tentacle monster attack, but he never pulled ahead.

Shigeru tried to pretend his heart was beating a little faster than normal because he was running, never mind that this pace never strained him before - and not because his stomach was tightening not at all unpleasantly.

 

Shigeru didn’t know what he did to deserve this.

He was half past seven and he was in the café, which was empty at that hour as usual, when Oikawa walked in, trailed by Kindaichi and Kunimi. He cursed, covering his face with his textbook. When he lowered it, Oikawa was sitting across from him, a grin plastered on his face. Kindaichi and Kunimi stood to the side of his armchair, faces carefully blank.

“What brings you here, Oikawa-san?” Shigeru asked with forced cheer.

“I came to see the one you mentioned, Yahaba-chan, with the powerful aura,” he said. Shigeru’s smile didn’t falter, even though all he wanted to do now was disappear into thin air. Shigeru had an immense respect for Oikawa, to have risen to the top of the hero ranks without any special abilities whatsoever. That didn’t mean he wanted to subject Suga to Oikawa’s presence. He didn’t want to be banned from the café for the rest of his college career.

He willed Suga not to leave the back room, but he groaned when Kyoutani approached instead with a fresh mug of coffee. That was almost as bad. Kyoutani’s eyes widened when he spotted Oikawa, before his brows furrowed as he placed the mug down and collected Shigeru’s empty one.

“Kyouke--” Oikawa started, before Kyoutani’s glare grew fierce, and Shigeru thought he heard an angry rumble in Kyoutani’s chest. “Kyoutani-chan!” Oikawa said. “I didn’t know you worked here.”

Kyoutani just stood there, glaring, and Yahaba wondered how screwed he would be if he asked him how he knew Oikawa, because while he wasn't the most personable of people he never outright glared at perfect strangers. The back door opened and Suga walked out to man the counter, looking bemused by the collection of people in the café.

Oikawa stood up and approached him, ignoring the distressed moan that escaped Shigeru as he did.

He couldn’t hear what either of them were saying as they talked, which was strange considering the emptiness of the room. Shigeru glared at Kunimi, who shrugged.

“Oikawa’s orders,” he said. Kunimi looked at Kindaichi, who had taken the armchair that Oikawa had vacated, and plopped down on his lap, despite being literally surrounded by empty chairs. Kindaichi flushed, cheeks reddening rather alarmingly, and Shigeru rolled his eyes.

Shigeru looked back at Suga and Oikawa, relieved when he saw that there was a pleasant, almost teasing smile on Suga’s face as they talked. He shook his head, and Shigeru dared to hope that meant Suga was refusing whatever invitation Oikawa had extended.

Shigeru turned back to Kyoutani and Kunimi, planning to bombard them with questions, until Kyoutani sat on his armrest instead of walking back to the counter and Shigeru remembered that Kyoutani wasn’t supposed to know any of them were with the Association at all.

He hated secret identities, sometimes.

He tried to go back to reading the handout he’d brought with him, but it was hard when he was distracted both by the conversation going on behind him that he couldn’t hear a word of, and the way his hand grazed against Kyoutani whenever he reached out to sip at his coffee.

He tried to ignore Kunimi’s knowing smirk.

 

Shigeru was used to Mad Dog’s presence during his patrols by now. It was weird, having someone there all the time that he really barely talked to, but he counted on Mad Dog to have his back, and at this point he hoped Mad Dog thought the same (Shigeru had saved his ass one more than one occasion - while Mad Dog’s abilities were certainly impressive, he would never have the range Shigeru did.)

Shigeru didn’t have an official partner, which he knew was weird for Association heroes; they very much believed in the buddy system, but he figured his relationship with Mad Dog was as close as he’d get to having one.

When Shigeru was called to another attack site, where a giant, bee-like monster seemed to be turning skyscrapers into waxy hives; Mad Dog showed up just a minute later, jumping from behind Shigeru straight onto its wing.

“Mad Dog!” He called out, a panic surging through him. The monster had barely been analysed, its weaknesses were unknown; even Oikawa seemed surprised by his sudden appearance.

Mad Dog tore through the wing with a clawed hand, sending the monster crashing into a building as it fell sideways to the ground. Mad Dog jumped off of it, just managing to grab onto a ledge of a nearby building. Shigeru took a deep, shaky breath, before firing his hookshot and letting it pull him to the ledge so he could help Mad Dog up.

“What’s your problem?” Shigeru asked once Mad Dog was back on his feet, away from the fifty-foot drop. “That was dangerous, no one can communicate with you since you don’t have an earpiece; you could have died!”

“I didn’t,” Mad Dog said simply, as if that made the whole situation okay. He could feel a lecture welling up in him, then Iwaizumi showed up, taking one look at the bee struggling on the streets before sending a giant rock through its middle, his nose scrunching up in disgust at the crunch-and-squelch of it.

“Gross.” Mad Dog said. Shigeru laughed hysterically.

“You know Mad Dog-chan,” Oikawa said a few minutes later, sending a cleanup request to HQ as they walked through one one of the wax combs that the monster had imbedded into a building. “You should really just register for the Association. Then you could come on big gigs like this all the time, instead of all the petty crime I’m sure you get bored of dealing with all day.

“You could even be Artemis-chan’s partner. He’s been with us two years and doesn’t have one, can you believe it? If you join Artemis will finally have a hunting dog!”

Mad Dog growled, sending Oikawa a vicious glare. “I work al--” he started, but his mouth snapped closed at the look Shigeru gave him.

If Mad Dog’s glare was vicious, Shigeru looked ready to kill.

 

Shigeru found himself disappointed that night when Mad Dog didn't show up to patrol that. He even waited for a while, lingering around the block Mad Dog would appear and start running behind Shigeru, but he didn't show. 

"Fine, go sulk on your own," Shigeru muttered before continuing on his normal route. Things had been weird that morning between them that morning while they waited for the clean-up crew. Shigeru refused to let Mad Dog imply that they didn't work together at all, but he wasn't willing to outright say that he was his partner - not that he could, considering Mad Dog wasn't even a registered hero - but Mad Dog didn't say they _weren't_ partners either.

Shigeru shook his head, annoyed that he allowed himself to be so distracted by one person. He resigned himself to being alone for the rest of the night and possibly for the rest of his patrols, because he couldn't see how partnering up with an unregistered hero could end well. 

As he jumped over an alley, a loud thump suddenly sounded from it. Shigeru had to pause for a moment, wondering what could have possibly made a sound like that and drawing a blank. He squinted at the alley, seeing nothing out of the ordinary in the low light, then there was movement from behind a dumpster and immediately loosed a trap arrow at it, watching as the arrow split open to reveal a large, superfine net. Shigeru smiled when whatever he caught yelped; this was probably his favourite of the new toys that the Association had developed.

He jumped off the roof, approached the trap with another arrow ready, and his jaw dropped when he saw what he'd caught. Under the net was a wolf the size of the pony, its fur a familiar blond; it looked at him with such an unimpressed expression that Shigeru would have laughed if he were less bewildered.

"Mad Dog?" He said, eyes wide. The wolf huffed; Shigeru could only assume it was in the affirmative. Shigeru shook his head, disabling the weights that weighed the edges of the net down and pulling it off of Mad Dog. Once it was bunched up and thrown in the dumpster, Shigeru narrowed his eye.

"Were you following me?" he asked, forcing himself to sound unimpressed when the thought made him force a smile from his face. Mad Dog only huffed; Shigeru figured that he could interpret that however he wanted, seeing as he had no idea what Mad Dog actually meant to say.

They settled back into the routine of patrol surprisingly easily, considering it was a giant wolf tailing beside him instead of a dog - wolf - person.

"You know," Shigeru started, "I always thought you were a pit bull or something" Mad Dog growled at that, glaring up at Shigeru. Shigeru still wasn't used to seeing a human's sharp gaze on a wolf's body, but he found it in himself to chuckle anyway.

"I like this better, though," Shigeru said, "You're fluffy."

Mad Dog whined in protest - embarrassed, maybe, Shigeru thought - but let Shigeru bury his hand in the thick tuft of fur behind his ears anyway.

 

The next morning, when Suga brought him his last mug of coffee for the morning, there was a piece of paper sitting next to it. He picked it up; it took a while for the series of numbers scribbled on it to register as a phone number. He looked up at Suga in question.

“Please put him out of his misery and _ask him out_ already,” he said. Shigeru could feel his entire face turn red as Suga winked and walked away.

Kyoutani looked puzzled when he walked out of the back room to see Shigeru gulping down his piping mug of freshly-brewed coffee. He looked a little alarmed when Shigeru stood and walked straight for him, placing his palms flat on the counter when he got there.

“Go out to dinner with me tomorrow?” he asked. Kyoutani’s cheeks pinked immediately, and he looked like he was frozen in place.

“Please,” he choked out half a minute later. Shigeru was sure his blush matched Kyoutani’s but he couldn’t find it in himself to care and let a grin split his face.

 

Shigeru figured that at this point, he was just having a bad month.

He could hear a voice in his head scolding him for going out unprepared (in Oikawa’s voice, which seemed appropriate,) but he’d just planned to go on a quick patrol to tire himself out before trying to sleep, because his excitement for tomorrow’s date left him tossing and turning in his sheets. A nearly-empty quiver seemed appropriate at the time, but now, cornered in an alley and bleeding profusely from a stab wound in his stomach, he regretted all of his decisions.

He grabbed his last arrow as the faceless man lunged at him, his body protesting as he used the last of his strength to draw, thanking everything he could think of that he had brought a compound bow tonight, at least, or he definitely wouldn’t be able to do even that.

Before he could release, something slammed into the faceless man, knocking him down. He dissipated into thin air, and Shigeru was left staring at Mad Dog, growling at the air where the man had just been. There were yells from outside the alley, the strange, shaky feeling in the air the Shigeru recognised as Kunimi trying to see where the man had disappeared to.

Shigeru lowered his bow, slipping the arrow back in his quiver. He opened his mouth to thank him, only for a groan to spill out of his mouth instead as a wave of nausea washed over him.

 

The next thing he knew, he was in the hospital, more than a little bit drugged up, and Oikawa staring worriedly down at him.

“I’m going to leave the lecture for when you’re more likely to remember it, Yahaba,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’m going to have to go back to HQ and let everyone know you’re okay, but I’m leaving you in capable hands.”

Shigeru just stared up at him, a little confused, and nodded with a smile, only for his mouth to drop open when Mad Dog walked in. His brows were drawn together, a scowl on his face and, most surprisingly, there was an Association-issued watch on his wrist.

“Yahaba,” he said as a greeting, before sitting down on the chair next to Shigeru’s bed. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit loopy,” he said, before what Mad Dog said registered. “Wait, how do you know who I am?”

Mad Dog raised an eyebrow. Shigeru blinked when Mad Dog rolled his eyes and he began shrinking, fur thinning out until his limbs were nearly bare and only lightly muscled, and he pulled off his mask and it was Kyoutani standing in front of him.

“Oh. _Oh_.” Shigeru said, because things were finally starting to make sense. “But how do-”

“You’re not in costume,” Kyoutan said. “Also, I have _wolf_ powers. Heightened senses? I smelled who you were from the start.”

“Oh.”

There was a long, slightly awkward silence.

“So are we still on for dinner?”

Kyoutani snorted a laugh, holding out a canister of coffee.

“Decaf,” he said. “And I’ll take a rain-check on that dinner until I’m sure it won’t be hospital food.”

Shigeru shrugged, because he didn’t particularly want hospital food for their first date either. “Can I kiss you, though?”

Kyoutani blushed, leaning forward a little, and Shigeru grabbed onto the front of his shirt, pulling him until he was close enough for him to press their lips together.

"So does this make you my hunting dog?" he breathed when they pulled apart, nodding towards to the now too-loose watch on Kyoutani's wrist.

The spasm of pain that went through him when he dodged Kyoutani's swat was worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't choose between superhero au and coffeeshop au, so I did both. It ended up being way less fluffy than I intended because I got a bit carried away with the superhero bit, but I hope there's enough in here ;-;
> 
> To my recipient, have a great (last few weeks) of summer!
> 
> I have a writing [tumblr](http://sodappend.tumblr.com/)! Im also on [twitter](https://twitter.com/sodappend) if anyone wants to chat.


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